Tumbling mill feed mechanism



Oct. 20, 1953 J, J, sc r 2,656,162

TUMBLING MILL FEED MECHANISM Filed July 24, 1951 2- Sheets-Sheet 1 V Z I INVENTORS fly/m J Elie/yer and y Lemuel .1 Morgan Oct. 20, 1953 J. J. FISCHER ETAL 2,656,162

TUMBLING MILL FEED MECHANISM Filed July 24, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I l I 7 l [1,4] g 59 h 65 l k I T INVENTORS 56 :E-f-L: V 5 Z7 Jo/zn J. Elva/2e! and 57 45 7; Z6 Z4 y Lemue/ J Morgan 36 /5 Qu ATTORNEY! Patented Oct. 20, 1953 UNITE? STATES..TENT @FFIC John Fischer. and Lemuel-.I. Morgan, East Stroudsburg, Pa., assignors to The Patterson- Kelley 09., Inc East stroudsburg Pa.

Application July 24, 1951, Serial No. 238,352

. 1 7 1 "-Thisinvention relates to material mixing or blending'devices for use in the various industries; and more particularly to improved means for feeding raw materials'into such devices.

The invention contemplates improvements in which'n'ie'chanism facilitates in improved mannerdisassembly and cleaning thereof intermediately" of successive uses" of themill on different materials; thereby avoiding contamination of the 'feed" materials. Anotherobject of the invention is to provide an improved 'feed mechanism of the character described which. eliminates the need for feed. screw bearing devices-internally of the mechanism; thereby eliminating an otherwise difficult maintenanceproblem. 1 7 Another object of the invention is to provide in a mill of the character described an improved feedhopper'and screw arrangement." -'Otherotvjects and advantages of the invention will appear from the specification hereinafter; r

in the drawing:

' Figll is a side elevation'of a'mixing or blending mill incorporating a material feeding'arrangement of the present invention; the mill being illustrated by way of example as being generally of'the type shown and described in U. S. Patent 2,514,126, but having a material feeding mechanism of the present invention incorporated therewith; v FigQZ is an end elevationof the mill of Fig. 1, showing one form of feed hopper supply means applicable thereto; 7

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section, on an enlargjed scale, taken along line 'III [III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top elevation, taken on an'enlarged scale, of thefeed mechanism support arrangement of Fig. 1;

fFig. 5 is a fragmentary section talgen along v6 Claims. (01. 259-14) 2 1 Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section taken along line VI--VI of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view with portions broken away to show the interior. of another form of feed hopper and supply arrangement, in connection with a mill and feeding "mechanism of the present invention; "T The drawing illustrates by way of. example, application of the present invention to a blend ing mill of the type illustrated in detail in U; S. Patent2,514,126; but it will of course be understood that the present invention is. applicable with equal facility to any other type ofrotating vessel for blending or mixing or grinding materials. As shown in the drawing, the millcomprises a hollow container fabricated of two truncated cylinders so united as to provide a generally V-sha'ped hollow container it having access opening covers l2l2 and a material dis: charge spout and control valve unit HLIThe mill is mounted to rotate upon trunnion bear ings which are carried by pedestals |5-- l6; the trunnion bearingarrangement at the pedestal I 5 comprising a truncated cylindrical bracket ll fixed to the container Ill and having astub shaft 18' extending therefrom and journaled within a bearing block [9. which is based upon the pedestal IS. A spur g'earzZiliS illustrated as being carried by the shaft 18 and meshes with a pinion 2| 'which'is in turn driven by a' motor 22 'to provide the required rotation of the mill for material grinding or mixing or blending purposes,.as explained'in the patent previously referred to.

The trunnion bearing mechanism at the opposite end of the mill is'especially designed to embody the feed mechanism of the present in;

.ventionfand for that purpose the container" I0 is provided with an integral truncated cylindrical bracket 24' (Figs; 1, 5) which extends-horizontal- 1y andco'nce'ntr'ically of the trunnion axis'of the mill l0 and terminates in a grooved bearing ring25. The ring 25 rests upon trunnion rollers 26 which are cai'ried'by suitable brackets 2'! (Fig. 6) based upon the "pedestal I5; andthus it will be appreciated that the mill is is mounted at one end by means of the trunnion bearing 19 and by'the'bearing ring and roller unit 25-45 at the other end thereof for rotation about a horizontal" trunnion axis'in response to operation' of the'motor 22. 6 "As shown in Figs. 1-6, the material feed mechanisrn includes a generally cylindrical casing 30 which is rotatably mounted within longitudinally spaced bearing'ring brackets"3l'-32; the easbracket 24 in concentric inwardly spaced relation therein. A dirt sealing gasketring K8 (Figs. 5 and 6) of felt or the like is mounted therebetween by means of spaced retainer rings 3939' (Fig. 5) and the retainer rings arecarried upon support rods 46-45 (Figs. 5 and 6) which in turn are held in position by plates 41 extending from the ring 25. Furthermore, the retainer rings are biased toward one another by means of compression springs 42 which are carried upon rods 43 inv such manner as to continuously exert compressive force against the felt gasket 38 whereby the: latter is at. all times maintained in snug fitting relation between the cylindrical shell pieces 24, 36, while at the same time freely permitting relative rotation thereof.

A material feed screw 45 is mounted within the casing 311 by means of mount devices conmeeting with opposite stub shaft end portions of the feed screw. Thus, at one end the feed screw shaft is bored longitudinally to receive in slipfltting relation therein a knob portion 46 extending from a bracket 41 which is fixed to the inner surface of the container bracket 24, as indicated at 48. The knob portion 46 carries a radially extending pin 49 which slip-fits into a longitudinal keyway portion 50 of the feed screw shaft; thus it will be appreciated that when the feed screw is slip-fitted at its inner end upon the knob 46 with the keyway 5U embracing the knob pin 49, the feed screw will be thereby connected to rotate within. the casing 30 coincident with rotation of the mill 16. At its opposite end the feed screw 45 is provided with an extending shaft portion 52, the outer end of which is conically bored to provide a bearing seat for a jack screw 54. The screw 54 is mounted in screw threaded relation through a gland 56 which is in turn mounted upon an end plate 51 by means of screws 58; and the end plate 51 is in turn mounted upon the end of the casing 30 by means of screws 59. Thus, the end plate '51 and the gland 56 constitute a bearing support for one end of the feed screw 45 while the jack screw 54 operates as a thrust bearing to maintain the feed screw in keyed connection with the bracket 41 which revolves with the vessel 10. A look nut 60 is provided on the jack screw 54 for locking the latter in any adjusted position, and suitable packing rings 61 are provided interiorly of the gland '56 for dust-sealing the junction of the feed screw shaft 52 with the end plate 51.

Thus, it will be appreciated that the feed screw 45 is mounted to rotate within the casing 30 while being keyed to the bracket 41 which revolves with the vessel Ill. It is a particular feature and advantage of the arrangement of the invention that whenever the mill operation is converted from one material to another, the feed screw device is readily removable from the casing 30 by simply first removing the end plate 51 and then withdrawing the feed screw bodily in endwise direction through the opening thus provided. This removal of the feed screw then leaves the casing 30 in completely open and uninterrupted condition, whereby it may be readily cleaned of all materials previously operated upon prior to loading of the machine with a different kind of material. This feature is of course of particular advantage whenever there is a prohibition against contamination of a new material to be operated upon by the materials previously processed, such as when working with materials of chemical nature, 01' pigments, or other finely prepared materials. The feediscrew is then readily replaced by simply slipping it endwise back through the casing 30 until the keyway por-- tion 50 thereof engages the pin 48, whereupon replacement of the end plate 51 completes the reassembly of the feed screw unit.

As illustrated in Figs. 1-5, the feed casing 30 is provided with a lateral opening 65 to which is fitted one end of'a box-like hopper structure 66;

- the hopper structure being connected rigidly to the cylindrical casing 30 at the position of the opening 65. Thus, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the hopper 66 is then adapted to be lowered to a position wherein it sets upon the floor in front of the blending mill. and, at one end thereof so that the hopper may be conveniently loaded with feed material such as by dumping barrels or sacks of feed material thereinto. Then, the hopper 66 may be lifted and rotatedv with the casing 36, as to the broken line position thereof shown in Fig. 2, so that the feed materials within the hopper will then tendto slide downwardly and feed in through the opening 65 and into the casing 30. The feed material will then be acted upon by the feed screw 45 to be transported thereby from within the cats-- ing 35 into the interior of the mill Hi.

This material feeding action is of course due to rotation of the feedscrew 45 relative to the casing 30 as provided for by the keyed connection of the feed screw with the bracket 41, thereby dispensing with need of a separate driving mechanism for the feed. screw 45.. On the other hand, it will of course be appreciated that if for any reason it. is preferred to provide a separate power supply means for the feed screw 45, any such arrange ment may be readily made by simply connecting a suitable power source to the feed screw in some other manner. As shown in Fig. 2, the hopper 66 may be conveniently handled if desired by means of some power hoist device terminating in a pull cable 61 and connecting through a bale 68 to the hopper.

It is another particular feature and advantag of the present invention that the construction of the material feed mechanism thereof eliminates need for provision of any relatively moving bearing parts for support of the feed screw device within spaces normally occupied by the feed materials. Thus, difficulties customary to maintenance of mechanisms of the type wherein relatively moving bearing parts, are within access of abrasive feed materials, is eliminated. This is because there is no relative motion between the knob bearing 46 and the inner end of the feed screw shaft, and because the end thrust bearing of the screw 54 against the feed screw shaft is externally of the packing gasket 6 l Fig. '7 illustrates an alternate feed material supply arrangement wherein the feed screw enclosing casing 36 is stationarily mounted, as for example by welding it to upright brackets 10-10 extending from the pedestal structures. In this case the casing 30 is provided with a feed opening 12 in its upper surface, and a stationary supply hopper 14 is stationarily mounted upon the opening 12. Then, any suitable means for supplying the hopper 14 may be employed, such as an overhead conveyor or other continuousor periodic supply means The feed screw 45 is mounted within the casing 3p in the identical manner describedhereinabove and'illustratedin Fig. 5, and thus it will be appreciated that coincident with rotation of the mill in the keyed connection thereof with thefeed screw 45 will cause the latter to rotate so as to displace, feed material from within the hopper 74 into the interior of the casing Ill. Then, incidentalto maintenanceor conversion of the mill tofoperati'ds'iipon different materials, the feed screw may'b'' removed for cleaning or other maintenance purposes by simply, removing the end plate 51 as explained'hereinabove and then withdrawing the feed screw as described.

Although only a few forms of the invention have been described and shown in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited but that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus of the character described comprising a rotatably mounted vessel for confining and tumbling masses of material, said vessel being supported by trunnion members projecting outwardly from opposite sides of said vessel, one of said trunnion members comprising a cylindrical bracket integral with said vessel and terminating in a bearing ring engagingroller supports, a material feeding device comprising a generally cylindrical casing extending through said bearing ring and cylindrical bracket and having an open inner end for discharge therethrough of material into the interior of said vessel, said cylindrical casingbeing mounted independently of said cylindrical bracket and said vessel, a detachable end plate carried by the outer end of said casing and an end thrust bearing mounted thereon, means for introducing feed material into said casing intermediately of the ends thereof, a feed screw device disposed within said casing and having extending shaft portions at its opposite ends, one of said shaft portions extendin through the open inner end of said casing and engaging in keyed relation with a bracket fixed to said vessel for rotation therewith, the other shaft portion of said feed screw engaging said end thrust bearing on said end plate for maintenance of the keyed connection between said feed screw and said vessel bracket, whereby said end plate may be detached from said casing and said feed screw then withdrawn therefrom for cleaning purposes.

2. An apparatus of the character described comprising a rotatably mounted vessel for confining and tumbling masses of material, said vessel bein supported at one side by a hollow hear-- ing device forming a part thereof and extending outwardly therefrom along the axis of rotation thereof, a material feeding device comprising a generally cylindrical casing extending through said bearing device and relatively rotatable therein for discharge therethrough of material into the interior of said vessel, an end thrust bearing detachably mounted upon the outer end of said casing, the inner end of said casing being open, means for introducing feed material into said casing intermediately of the ends thereof, a feed screw device disposed within said casing and having extending shaft portions at its opposite ends, one of said shaft portions extending through the open inner end of said casing and into the interior of said vessel and engaging in keyed relation with a bracket fixed to said vessel for rotationtherewith, the other shaft portion ofsaidfeedascrew engaging said end thrust bearing for maintenance of the keyed connection between said feed screw and said vessel bracket, wherebysaid end plate may be detached from said casing and said feed screw then withdrawn for cleaning purposes. a

3. apparatus of the character described comprising -a rotatably mounted vessel for confining andtumbling masses of material, said vessel, said tubing having a detachable outer end portion mounting thereon an end thrust bearing and an open inner end, means for introducing feed material into said tubing, a material feed device disposed within said tubing and having extending bearing portions at its opposte ends, one of said bearing portions extending through the open inner end of said casing and into the interior of said vessel and engaging in keyed relation with a bracket fixed to said vessel for rotation therewith, the other bearing portion of said feed device engaging said end thrust bearing for maintenance of the keyed connection between said feed device and said vessel bracket.

4. An apparatus of the character described comprising a vessel for processing material, said vessel being supported for rotation by trunnion bearings including a hollow bearing device at one end thereof, a material feeding device comprising a casing having a closed outer end and an open inner end extending through said bearing device for discharge therethrough of material into the interior of said vessel, the outer closed end portion of said casing being detachable therefrom, means for introducing feed material into said casing, a feed screw device disposed within said casing and having a shaft portion extending through the open inner end of said casing and into the interor of said vessel and engaging in keyed relation with a bracket fixed to said vessel for rotation therewith, whereby said outer closed end portion may be detached from said casing and said feed screw then withdrawn for cleaning purposes.

5. An apparatus of the character described comprising a rotatably mounted vessel for confining and tumbling masses of material, said vessel being supported by substantially horizontally disposed trunnion members including a hollow trunnion bearing at one end thereof, a material feeding device comprising a tubing extending through said bearing for discharge of material into the interior of said vessel, said tubing being mounted to rotate relative to said vessel, said tubing having a detachable outer end portion mounting thereon an end thrust bearing, means for introducing feed material into said tubing, a material feed screw device disposed within said tubing and having a bearng portion engaging said end thrust bearing, and means driving said feed screw.

6. An apparatus of the character described comprising a rotatably mounted V-shaped vessel for confining and tumbling masses of material, said vessel being supported by trunnion members includin a hollow trunnion bearing at one end thereof, a material feeding device comprising a tubing extending through said bearing for discharge of material into the interior of said vessel/said tu in b ing mounted to rotate r l-e tire-to said vess l, said tubing having a detachable outer end. po tion m untin thereon. an end thrust b aring nd an op n nn r n means for intre ueing fe d ma erial into said tubing, a material teed screw device disposed Within said tubing and havin extending shaft portions at its emzosite ends. on of said shaft po ns extending through the open inner end of said easmg and into the interior of said vessel and engaging in lge-yed relation with said vessel for rotation therewith, the other shaft portion of set-id med. screw device engaging said end thrust bearing for a ntenance of the k yed onn c- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 903,426 Woller et a1. Nov. 10, 1908 1,167,402 Hetherington Jan. 11, 1916 1,901,207 Tumin Mar. 14, 1933 2,4,20,217 Allen May 6, 1947 2,514,126 Fischer July 4, 1950 

